With the withdrawal of funding and support from traditional sources, the culture sector is increasingly being left to fend for itself. But this period of flux also brings with it a fantastic opportunity to be truly inventive in meeting the bottom line. This is especially true for micro and small arts organisations, which can use social media to their benefit and achieve sustainable growth.

A startup attitude to survival – reach out to culture geeks

Much has been written about the Silicon Valley culture, sometimes described as a state of mind attuned to collaboration and building trusting relationships across the board. This value based approach is also evident in the various online communities that offer support and encouragement to startup tech businesses.

These communities attract people across all demographics, neatly bundled together as 'geeks'. And while a percentage of these geeks might be consumers, they also play a significant role in other stages of a company's development – from contributing to crowdfunding, and from peer review to skills support.

Small arts organisations need to give this approach some serious consideration. It begins with a change in mindset. Not everyone online is a customer or a potential audience member. The arts and culture also have their own network of passionate geeks, who are unified in their support for the sector through strong connections that range from intensely emotional to wildly esoteric. We need to start addressing online communities in this context to co-create solutions, just as the tech industry does so effectively.

Don't scale down – find your own voice

There is a reasonable precedence by now of larger institutions investing in sophisticated websites, apps and other artefacts to create engagement online. It's tempting to attempt a scaled down version of this approach, but for a small arts organisation or project with a limited budget, creating engagement on this basis can result in social networking fatigue.

There are only so many ways in which one can talk about or get others to talk about technological artefacts. An alternative approach is to share ideas and process through open-ended conversations and storytelling – the technology to speak to different communities is already available and can be used effectively without technical expertise.

Another advantage of just starting out is your smaller digital footprint. Everyone makes mistakes while trying to find a voice that represents their ethos. Depending on the platform, these mistakes can either be undone or have an ephemeral existence online. Finding that voice, however, helps you get things done while clearly defining your intentions to avoid confusion or misunderstanding. You can invite participation, request help or get whatever it was your started, finished.

Forget the script – learn to improvise

Once you have found your voice, the next step is to improvise. We exist on social media as variants of ourselves and often have multiple digital identities based on particular interests. Think how differently you would describe yourself on a site like LinkedIn (which has a distinct, pin-striped professional veneer) as compared to Twitter (where you can afford to have a more relaxed bearing).

This is why speaking to someone via a social media website isn't the same as writing an email or even having a telephone conversation. A small biog creates a sense of intimacy and the exchanges via chronological timelines add a layer of immediacy.

Passive listening (or lurking) is a great first step in learning how to improvise. Starting out small is an added advantage because you can carve out your own community (by following people on different social networks) on the basis of shared interests. This creates the seeds of a conversation that you can manage.

Work socially – be digital in thinking

The concept of 'digital thinking', borrowed from the government's digital strategy, succinctly defines the need of the hour. Digital is fast becoming the default space for a whole range of transactions. It is vital for the culture sector to occupy this space. Social media offers a cost effective and relatively risk-free resource for small organisations to figure out how to make digital work for them in a way that contributes to the long term vision of sustainable growth.

Abhay Adhikari is a digital strategist for the arts, education and voluntary sectors – follow him on Twitter @gopaldass

Find out more about the digital seminars he is facilitating for the Guardian Culture Professionals Network here – don't forget there is a 20% discount for network members (sign up for free here)